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COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



Somen's Cpes 



BEING VERSES TRANSLATED 
FROM THE SANSKRIT 



by 
ARTHUR WILLIAM RYDER 

Assistant Professor of Sanskrit 
in the University of California 



Should fancy cease, 

The world would be a forest dead and dry. 

— Bhavabhuti. 



S. Jffl- 3&o6ert*on 

San Francisco 
I g I o 






COPYRIGHT 

1910 

BY ARTHUR W. RYDER 



Printed by 

<Et)e &tanlep.TEaplor Companp 

San Francisco 



©CU265189 



\ K ''< 



TO THE MEMOEY OF 

IRVING STRINGHAM 

THE MATHEMATICIAN. WE OF THE 
UNIVEKSITY OWE MOEE TO HIM THAN 
EITHEE WE COULD EEPAY OE WHOLLY 
COMPEEHEND. TO HIS LIVING MEM- 
OEY THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED; A 
SLIGHT GIFT, MADE EICH ONLY BY 
THE LOVING AND GEATEFUL THOUGHT 
OF HIM, WHICH WENT TO ITS MAKING. 

The year sees many a birth and death 
Of little folks like you and me: 

His like has never yet drawn breath; 
No future age his like will see. 

From the Sanskrit. 



INTRODUCTION 

In short verses the Hindus excel. Their mastery 
of form, their play of fancy, their depth and tender- 
ness of feeling, are all exquisite. 

Of the many who wrote such verses, the greatest 
is Bhartrihari. He lived some fifteen hundred years 
ago as king of Ujjain, and lived most royally, tasting 
the sweets of life without thought of the morrow. 

At last he was roused from his carefree existence 
by an event which surprised and shocked him. He 
gave a magic fruit to a girl whom he loved. She 
loved another, and passed the gift on to him. He 
presented it to his lady-love, who in her turn loved 
the king. When Bhartrihari received the magic fruit 
from her and learned of its travels, he was disgusted 
with the fleeting joys of the world, gave up his king- 
dom, and spent the rest of his life in a cave, writing 
poetry. The circumstance which led to his retire- 
ment is commemorated in the following verse : * 

The maid my true heart loves would not my true love be; 

She seeks another man; another maid loves he; 

And me another maid! her own true love would see: 

Oh, He on her and him and Love and HEE and me ! 

* Beprinted by kind permission of the Century Magazine. 

[v] 



Bhartrihari wrote three hundred verses : a hundred 
on the conduct of life, a hundred on love, a hundred 
on renunciation. 

In the present collection, no less than eighty-five 
of the verses are taken from this master of Indian 
verse-writing. The remaining fifteen are from vari- 
ous sources. The arrangement of the verses is my 
own, as are also the titles prefixed to them. 

I have striven faithfully for a literal rendering. 
Though a rendering into verse cannot be quite as 
close as a prose version, nothing has been wilfully 
added or subtracted. One matter deserves notice 
here; I have occasionally translated Indian god- 
names, Shiva or Brahma, by the word God. This is 
not wholly accurate, yet not, I think, unfaithful in 
spirit. 

The present volume does not encroach unduly 
upon the excellent work of P. E. More: A Century 
of Indian Epigrams. Only a few of the verses chosen 
by him are translated here, and even these in a man- 
ner quite different. 

I am under obligations to the University of Cali- 
fornia Chronicle for permission to reprint certain 
verses which first appeared in its pages. 

Berkeley, California, ARTHUR W. RYDER 

February 19, 1910 

[Vi] 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Women's Eyes . 1 

If Only We Might Dress in Air 2 

Love Is Young 3 

Love Grows by What It Feeds on 4 

Gentle Eyes 5 

The Stubborn Fool— I 6 

The Stubborn Fool— II 7 

Seven Arrows 8 

Substitutes 9 

Sweet and Bitter 10 

When I Knew a Little Bit 11 

Whom Does She Love? 12 

Arrows of Love 13 

The Danger of Delay 14 

Better to Dwell in Mountains Wild 15 

The April Wind 16 

My Folly 's Done 17 

Does She Love Me? 18 

Eemedies 19 

The Beautiful and the Good 20 

The Power of Money 21 

Desire Is Young 22 

Thou Art a Flower 23 

The Divine Decree 24 

Two Kings 25 

[vii] 



PAGE 

Absence and Union 26 

The Serpent -Woman 27 

Can She Be Dear? 28 

The Decline of True Learning 29 

The Last Day 30 

Logic 31 

The Anger of the King 32 

The Eains 33 

The Lovers' Ally 34 

Why? 35 

All the World >s a Stage 36 

The Way of the World 37 

She Only Looked 38 

Who Understands a Man? 39 

Untrustworthy Things 40 

Two Views of Life 41 

Procrastination 42 

Should Fancy Cease .. 43 

What Then?— I 44 

What Then?— II 45 

The Queen of Love 46 

Joyous Treasures 47 

Vexations — I 48 

Vexations — II 49 

Love, the Fisher 50 

Ephemeral Potions 51 

All These Things Shall Be Added 52 

The Blind Forest 53 

The Littleness of the World 54 

Friendship's End . . 55 

[ viii ] 



PAGE 

A Wasted Life— I . . 56 

A Wasted Life— II 57 

A Wasted Life— III 58 

Flaming Banners 59 

The Thief of Hearts 60 

Two Kinds of Friendship 61 

Choosing a Vocation 62 

The Good Are Bare 63 

There Was a Noble City 64 

Where Education Fails 65 

On Giving a Daughter in Marriage 66 

Struggling Fancies 67 

Oh, Might I End the Quest! 68 

What Delights and Hurts 69 

The Sweetest Things 70 

The Unlucky Man 71 

A Eeason for Benunciation 72 

Kenunciation 73 

The Better Part 74 

The Five Bobbers 75 

When Woman Wills 76 

A Little Knowledge 77 

The Weaker Sex 78 

Young Womanhood 79 

The Bravest of the Brave 80 

Dignity 81 

In the Days of Thy Youth 82 

They Want the Earth 83 

The Beasts That Don't Eat Grass 84 

Why Men Beg 85 

[ix] 



PAGE 

The Wise Misogynist 86 

Nectar and Poison 87 

The Two Things That Matter 88 

The One Thing Needful 89 

Unintelligible Virtue 90 

The Lines of Fate 91 

Poverty 92 

How Hard Fate Grips! 93 

When My Love Draws Nigh 94 

The Hermit 95 

Why Go to Court? 96 

Impossible! 97 

Hindrances 98 

Divine Vision 99 

Why My Poems Died 100 



[*] 



WOMEN'S EYES 



WOMEN 'S EYES 



The world is full of women's eyes, 
Defiant, filled with shy surprise, 
Demure, a little overfree, 
Or simply sparkling roguishly; 
It seems a gorgeous lily-bed, 
Whichever way I turn my head. 



[i] 



IF ONLY WE MIGHT DRESS IN AIR 



If only we might dress in air, 
And eat what begging brings, 

And sleep outdoors, we should not care 
For all the money-kings. 



[2] 



LOVE IS YOUNG 



The wrinkles on my face are all untold; 

My hair is gray and thin; 
My limbs are sadly feeble grown, and old: 

But love is young, and sin. 



[3] 



LOVE GROWS BY WHAT IT FEEDS ON 



When she is far, I only want to see her; 

When she is seen, I only want to kiss her; 
When she is kissed, I never want to flee her; 

I know that I could never bear to miss her. 



[41 



GENTLE EYES 



Candle, and fire, and star, 

Sun, moon, to give me light; 

But her dear, gentle eyes are far- 
This world is night. 



[5] 



THE STUBBORN FOOL I 



A diamond you may draw 

From an alligator's jaw; 
You may cross the raging ocean like a pool; 

A cobra you may wear 

Like a blossom in your hair; 
But you never can convince a stubborn fool. 



[6] 



THE STUBBORN FOOL II 



With sufficient toil and travail 

You may gather oil from gravel; 
The mirage perhaps your thirsty lips may cool; 

If you seek it night and morn, 

You may find a rabbit's horn; 
But you never can convince a stubborn fool. 



[7] 



SEVEN ARROWS 



Seven arrows pierce my heart: 

The moonbeams that by day depart; 

The maid whose youthful beauty flies; 

The pool wherein the lotus dies; 

The handsome man whose lips are dumb; 

The rich man, miserly and glum; 

The good man sunk in suffering; 

The rogue in favor with the king. 



[8] 



SUBSTITUTES 



What need of armor to the patient soul? 
What need of foes, if temper spurns control? 
If rogues are near, what need of snakes to harm 

you? 
If relatives, what need of fire to warm you? 
If friends, what need of magic draughts for 

health? 
If blameless scholarship, what need of wealth? 
If modesty, what need of gems and flowers? 
If poetry, what need of kingly powers? 



[9] 



SWEET AND BITTER 



Sweet are the moonbeams, sweet the grass-grown 

wood, 
Sweet is the peaceful converse of the good, 
The poet's song is sweet, the maiden's face 
When angry tear-drops lend a sudden grace: 
All would be sweet if human fate were fitter; 
The thought of death turns all the sweet to 

bitter. 



[10] 



WHEN I KNEW A LITTLE BIT 



When I knew a little bit, 
Then my silly, blinded wit, 
Mad as elephants in rut, 
Thought it was omniscient; but 
When I learned a little more 
From the scholar's hoarded store, 
Madness' fever soon grew cool, 
And I knew I was a fool. 



[ii] 



WHOM DOES SHE LOVE? 



With one she gossips full of art; 

Her glances with a second flirt; 
She holds another in her heart: 

Whom does she love enough to hurt? 



[12] 



ARROWS OF LOVE 



"Where are you going, winsome maid, 
Through deepest, darkest night? (he said.) 
I go to him whom love has made 
Dearer to me than life (she said). 
Ah, girl, and are you not afraid, 
For you are all alone? (he said.) 
The god of love shall be mine aid, 
Arrows of love fly true (she said). 



[13] 



THE DANGER OF DELAY 



In giving, and receiving too, 
In every deed you have to do, 
Act quickly; if you wait a bit, 
Then time will suck the juice of it. 



[14] 



BETTER TO DWELL IN MOUNTAINS WILD 



Better to dwell in mountains wild 

With beasts of prey 
Than in the palaces of gods 

With fools to stay. 



[15] 



THE APRIL WIND 



The wind of April is a lover bold: 
He makes the women shiver hot and cold; 
He shuts their eyes, he rumples up their hair, 
And catches rudely at the gowns they wear; 
Time after time he presses pretty lips 
From which a cry indignant- joyful slips. 



[16] 



MY FOLLY 'S DONE 



Why should that girl still use her keen, 
Coquettish eyes that steal the sheen 
From lotus-flowers. What can she mean? 

My folly 's done. The fever-sting 
Of love's soft arrow does not eling; 
And yet she doesn't stop, poor thing! 



[17] 



DOES SHE LOVE ME? 



Although she does not speak to me, 
She listens while I speak; 

Her eyes turn not, my face to see, 
But nothing else they seek. 



[18] 



REMEDIES 



A fire with water we defeat, 
With parasols the midday heat, 
Mad elephants with goads that prick, 
Oxen and asses with a stick, 
Sickness with draughts that banish harm, 
Poison with many a spell and charm: 
Science has cures for every ill 
Except the fool; he prospers still. 



[19] 



THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE GOOD 



You are a teacher of the youth 

Who master philosophic truth; 

I seek in the poetic art 

What charms and ravishes the heart. 

Yet we are honest and we see 

The only good is charity; 

And nothing charms us, fools or wise, 

Except a maid with lotus-eyes. 



[20] 



THE POWER OP MONEY 



His powers are still the same, his actions too, 
His mind is quite as keen, his speech as true; 
Yet he has undergone a wondrous change — 
He lost his money. Do you think it strange? 



[21] 



DESIRE IS YOUNG 



Not time, but we, have passed away; 

Not virtue, we ourselves grow cold; 
Not joys, but we, no longer stay: 

Desire is young, but we are old. 



[22] 



THOU ART A FLOWER 



Thou art a flower whose fragrance none has 
tasted, 

A gem uncut by workman's tool, 
A branch no desecrating hands have wasted, 

A virgin forest, sweetly cool. 

No man on earth deserves to taste thy beauty, 
Thy blameless loveliness and worth, 

Unless he has fulfilled man's perfect duty — 
And is there such a one on earth? 



[23] 



THE DIVINE DECREE 



Thy wise creator wrote upon thy brow, 

When thou wast born, what wealth should 
once be thine; 

The sum was great perhaps, or small; yet now 
Thy fate is fixed, and sure the law divine. 

For if thou dwell within the desert's bound, 
Thou shalt have nothing less than his decree; 

Nor shall a single penny more be found, 

Although the golden mount thy dwelling be. 

Ah, then be brave and play the manly part, 
Nor be so fond to humble thy proud heart 
And fawn before the rich with cringing art. 

For see! A jar that in the ocean fell 
Holds no more water in its little shell 
Than when you lowered it in the meanest well. 



[24] 



TWO KINGS 



Flee from the palace where they say: 
The king is sleeping; go away — 
He has no time for you today — 
Or — he will see you if you stay — 
He will be angry anyway. 

Flee to another, greater king, 
My soul, who rules each mortal thing, 
"Whose palace knows no bolt, no ring, 
No porter's harsh, sarcastic fling, 
No pain, no human suffering. 



[25] 



ABSENCE AND UNION 



Absence is union dear, 
"When hearts are one; 

Union is absence drear, 
When love is done. 



[26] 



THE SERPENT-WOMAN 



Avoid the poison-glance, my friends; 

The serpent- woman flee; 
Her crooked path has crooked ends; 

Her hood is coquetry. 

If you are stung by common snakes, 
Perhaps you will not die; 

If poison from a woman takes, 
The doctors say goodby. 



[27] 



CAN SHE BE DEAR? 



The thought of her is saddening, 
The sight of her is fear, 

The touch of her is maddening — 
Can she be really dear? 



[28] 



THE DECLINE OF TRUE LEARNING 



Once, learning slew the living woe 
Of wise men. That was long ago. 
She then disdained such service rare, 
Became a practical affair. 
But nowadays she sees that kings 
Despise all intellectual things, 
And sinking lower day by day, 
She seems to vanish quite away. 



[29] 



THE LAST DAY 



When the celestial mount shall totter, burning 

In all-devouring flame, 
When seas go dry, where crocodiles are turning 

And sharks no man may tame, 
When the compact earth itself shall tumble sheer, 

Great mountains madly dance, 
What of our bodies, quivering like the ear 

Of baby elephants? 



[30] 



LOGIC 



How long may subtle logic play its part 
In science and theology and art? 

So long as no young fawn-eyed maiden's 
glance 
Shall find its way to the logician's heart. 



[31] 



THE ANGER OF THE KING 



None from the anger of the king 

May be released; 
The fire consumes the offering 

And burns the priest. 



[32] 



THE RAINS 



And when the rainy days are come, 
Your lady-love must stay at home; 
She clings to you, a little bold 
Because she shivers with the cold; 
The breeze is fresh with heaven's spray 
And drives her lassitude away: 
When happy lovers are together, 
The rainy time is fairest weather. 



[33] 



THE LOVERS ' ALLY 



Ye maids, exhaust your haughty scorn 

On lovers bending low; 
For soon the breeze in southland born, 

With sandal sweet, will blow. 



[34] 



WHY? 



The deer, the fish, the good man hunger 
For grass, for water, for content; 

Yet hunter, fisher, scandalmonger 
Pursue each harmless innocent. 



[35] 



ALL THE WORLD 'S A STAGE 



Child for an hour, and lovesick youth an hour, 
Beggar an hour, then fanned by riches' breath, 

The wrinkled actor, Man, bereft of power, 
Creeps tottering behind the curtain, Death. 



[36] 



THE WAY OF THE WORLD 



In daily journeys of the sun 
Our little life is quickly done; 
In anxious duties of the day 
The hours unnoticed slip away; 
Though birth and age are ever near, 
And grief, and death, we do not fear: 
The world forgets its sore distress, 
Goes mad with wine of heedlessness. 



[37] 



SHE ONLY LOOKED 



She did not redden nor deny 

My entrance to her room; 
She did not speak an angry word; 

She did not fret and fume; 
She did not frown upon poor me, 

Her lover now as then; 
She only looked at me the way 

She looks at other men. 



[38] 



WHO UNDERSTANDS A MAN? 



Once he would follow at my feet, 

Obey my slightest word; 
And black was black, if black to me, 

Or white, if I preferred; 
And he began to walk or sit 

The moment I began; 
But he is different now. Oh, dear! 

Who understands a man? 



[39] 



UNTRUSTWORTHY THINGS 



The things that can claw, and the things that 
can gore, 
Are very untrustworthy things; 
And a man with a sword in his hand, further- 
more, 
And rivers and women and kings. 



[40] 



TWO VIEWS OF LIFE 



When ignorance my life entwined, 

Love's ointment made me strangely blind — 

I thought the world was made of womankind. 

But clearer judgment than of yore 

The veil before my vision tore — 

I know that God is all the world and more. 



[41] 



PROCRASTINATION 



By and by — 
Never fret — 
I shall try 
By and by. 

By and by — 
Don't forget— 
You must die 
By and by. 



[42] 



SHOULD FANCY CEASE 



The lover's patient fancy brings him peace, 
Paints her he loves before his inward eye, 

And gives him comfort; but should fancy cease, 
The world would be a forest dead and dry, 
And hearts that shrivel in the burning chaff, 
must die. 



[43] 



WHAT THEN ? I 



What if my life is fed 

With all that seems most sweet? 
What if my foeman's head 

Is ground beneath my feet? 
What if my wealth makes friends 

Again and yet again? 
What if my soul ascends 

Through countless lives? What then? 



[44] 



WHAT THEN? II 



Old rags, or fine, white silk that flows and clings- 

Why should I care? 
Poor wife, or horses, elephants, and things — 

What difference there? 
Sweet rice, or wretched food when day is o'er — 

Why care again? 
God's light, or groping in the dark once more — 

What then? What then? 



[45] 



THE QUEEN OF LOVE 



Surely the love-god is the slave 

Of her sweet eyes; 
For when they give a hint, the knave 

Obedient flies. 



[46] 



JOYOUS TREASURES 



How hard a thing it is that they achieve 

"Whose hearts the thought of God keeps pure 
and bright, 

Who for His sake earth's joyous treasures leave 
Without a pang at losing such delight! 

Those joyous treasures I could never get; 

I cannot get them now; I am not sure 
That I shall ever win to them; and yet 

I cannot flout the thought, the hope, the lure. 



[47] 



VEXATIONS I 



The scholarship that grasps at straws, 
The woman's love that must be bought, 

The life that hangs on tyrants' laws — 
These things are with vexation fraught. 



[48] 



VEXATIONS II 



The fear of dying vexes birth; 

Age vexes flashing youth; 
The carper vexes honest worth; 

Irresolution, truth. 

To vex our peace the women love; 

Our joy, ambition's sting; 
Rogues vex the court, and snakes the grove; 

And something, everything. 



[49] 



LOVE, THE FISHER 



Love, the fisher, casts his woman-hook 
Into the sea of lust and fond desire, 

And just as soon as greedy men-fish look 

And snap the red bait, lips so sweet, so dire, 

Then he is quick to catch them and to cook 
The hungry wretches over passion's fire. 



[50] 



EPHEMERAL POTIONS 



If mouths are dry with thirst, 
Men think of water first; 
If hungry, bolt their rice 
With many a toothsome spice; 
If love flames bright and brighter, 
They clasp the women tighter: 
They have the strangest notions; 
They think ephemeral potions 
Will heal the soul's commotions. 



[51] 



ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED 



What though she have a bosom sweet, 

A form to beauty wed, 
A face in which the graces meet — 

She must not turn your head. 

Nay, if her charm your fancy haunts, 
Then live on virtue's food; 

One cannot have the things he wants 
Except by being good. 



[52] 



THE BLIND FOREST 



The lady's body is a forest blind, 

With dangerous hills, her bosom fair; 

Think not to wander there, my mind; 
The robber, Love, is lurking there. 



[53] 



THE LITTLENESS OF THE WORLD 



Why should the truly wise man wish 
To hold the world in fee? 

'T is but the leaping of a baby fish 
Upon the boundless sea. 



[54] 



FRIENDSHIP S END 



Yes, you were I, and I was you, 
So fond the love that linked ns two; 
Alas, my friend, for friendship's end! 
Now I am I, and yon are you. 



[55] 



A WASTED LIFE I 



No stainless wisdom have I learned; 
No honest money have I earned; 
No fond obedience have I brought 
To parents, with a heart well-taught; 
I never dreamed of sweet embraces, 
Of sparkling eyes and roguish faces: 
My life was wasted like the crow's; 
I lived on strangers' bread and blows. 



[56] 



A WASTED LIFE II 



I never learned to vanquish other men 

In conference, with the just and fitting word; 
I never made high heaven ring again, 

Praising the elephant-hunter's sturdy sword; 
I never tasted honey from the kind, 

Soft lips of maids when moonlight scatters 
gloom : 
My youth is gone, and left no good behind, 

A candle burning in an empty room. 



[57] 



A WASTED LIFE III 



The paths of thought I never trod 
Which lead to unity in God; 
Nor were my days to virtue given 
Which opens wide the gates of heaven; 
Delights of love that men esteem 
Were mine not even in a dream: 
I was a sorry axe in sooth 
To cut the tree, my mother's youth. 



[58] 



FLAMING BANNERS 



Learning and dignity, 
Wisdom and manners 

Last till the god of love 
Plants flaming banners. 



[59] 



THE THEEF OF HEARTS 



You practise theft by strangest arts 

Once and again; 
In broad daylight you steal the hearts 

Of waking men. 



[60] 



TWO KINDS OF FRIENDSHIP 



The friendship of the rogue or saint, 
Like shade at dawn or shade at noon, 

Starts large and slowly grows more faint, 
Or starting faint, grows larger soon. 



[61] 



CHOOSING A VOCATION 



What shall I do in these few hours of life? 
Live humbly with a sweet, religious wife? 
Eenounce the world, the ties of kindred sever, 
And spend my days beside the sacred river? 
Drink deep of honeyed poems' nectar-flow? 
Or learn philosophy? I hardly know. 



[62] 



THE GOOD ARE RARE 



Through thoughts and words and deeds their 
virtues flow; 
To all the world their kindness brings delight; 
They make a mote of good in others show 
Like a great mountain; for their hearts are 
bright, 
And brighten all they touch with their own worth: 
How many such are to be found on earth? 



[63] 



THERE WAS A NOBLE CITY 



There was a noble city old, 
A mighty king, and vassals bold; 
And there were gathered scholars true, 
And moon-faced ladies not a few; 
And there were princes proud and free, 
And stories told, and minstrelsy: 
A memory now; we mourn their fall 
And honor Time, who levels all. 



[64] 



/ 



WHERE EDUCATION FAILS 



Though many youths a training get 
In law, religion, etiquette, 
Why are there few whose actions would, 
Interpreted, seem wholly good? 

Some arching brow is sure to be 
As cunning as a master-key, 
That serves its purpose passing well 
In flinging wide the gates of hell. 



[65] 



ON GIVING A DAUGHTER IN MARRIAGE 



A girl is held in trust, another's treasure; 

To arms of love my child today is given; 
And now I feel a calm and sacred pleasure ; 

I have restored the pledge that came from 
heaven. 



[66] 



STRUGGLING FANCIES 



It is my body leaves my love, not I; 

My body moves away, but not my mind; 
For back to her my struggling fancies fly 

Like silken banners borne against the wind. 



[67] 



OH, MIGHT I END THE QUEST ! 



I dug beneath the earth most greedily 

In search of hidden treasure; 
I smelted ore; I crossed the mighty sea, 

Forgetting every pleasure; 
I cringed to kings; and muddling all my brains 

With magic, lost my rest: 
But never got a penny for my pains; 

Oh, might I end the quest! 



[68] 



WHAT DELIGHTS AND HURTS 



It is the truth sans prejudice I speak; 

Ye people, heed this truth forever true; 
All that delights, in women you must seek, 

And all that hurts, you find in women too. 



[69] 



THE SWEETEST THINGS 



The sweetest sight a man may see 

Is a maiden's loving face; 
The sweetest thing to touch should be 

Her body's close embrace; 

Her voice should be the sweetest sound; 

Her breath, the sweetest scent; 
The sweetest taste, the honey found 

On lips to kisses lent; 

The thought of her is fervent prayer, 

Eeligion's sweetest part; 
The charm of her is everywhere 

Unto the pure in heart. 



[70] 



THE UNLUCKY MAN 



A bald man once, whose hairless pate 

Felt inconveniently hot, 
Fled to a cocoa-tree at noon — 

He hoped to find a shady spot. 
And then a big nut fell, and crack! 

The poor, bald head was split in two. 
Misfortunes almost always find 

The man whom evil fates pursue. 



[71] 



A REASON FOR RENUNCIATION 



Possessions leave us at the end, 
However long they stay; 

Then why not cast aside, my friend, 
What leaves us anyway? 

And if they leave against our will, 
The heart takes time in mending; 

If given willingly, they fill 

That heart with joy unending. 



[72] 



RENUNCIATION 



What does renunciation mean? 
It means a lonely woodland scene 
Remote from men and human sin, 
From woes of love, from love of kin, 
Free from the world, a life apart 
That slays the tortures of the heart 
As fear of death and fear of birth: 
It means the best of heaven and earth. 



[73] 



THE BETTER PART 



Is there no splendid Himalayan height, 

Cooled by the spray from Ganges' holy springs 

With rocks where fairies now and then alight, 
That men should fawn upon contemptuous 
kings ? 



[74] 



THE FIVE ROBBERS 



"Here are banquets, and singing sweet, 
Perfumes, and glimpse of dancing feet, 
And bosoms that on mine may beat." 

Five rascal senses whisper this, 
Lead me from virtue much amiss, 
And cheat me of my highest bliss. 



[75] 



WHEN WOMAN WILLS 



When loving woman wants her way, 
God hesitates to say her nay. 



[76] 



A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE 



A fool's opinion easily is bent; 

More easy 't is to win the wise and great; 

But God himself could never make content 
The man who feels himself elate 
"With one small grain of knowledge in his 
pate. 



[77] 



THE WEAKER SEX 



The classic poets make a great mistake; 

Forever of the weaker sex they speak; 
When gods are subjugated for the sake 

Of starry glances, are the women weak? 



[78] 



YOUNG WOMANHOOD 



Half-smiles that brighten on her face, 

Innocent, roving glances, 
The wealth of budding charms that show 

In little steps and dances, 
The flow of words that shyly prove 

The sweet, new woman-feeling: 
Yes, all the fawn-eyed maiden does 

Is wondrously appealing. 



[79] 



THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE 



A few brave men pursue 

Kogue elephants to death; 
There are a braver few 

Who stop the lion's breath; 
The bravest of the brave — 

And fewer yet they prove — 
Are they who can enslave 

The haughty god of love. 



[80] 



DIGNITY 



The dog will roll, and wag his tail, and fawn, 
Show mouth and belly, just to get some meat; 

The majestic elephant gazes gravely on; 

Till coaxed a hundred times, he will not eat. 



[81] 



IN THE DAYS OF THY YOUTH 



While life is vigorous and bright, 

While sickness comes not, nor decay, 
While all your powers are at their height, 

While yet old age is far away, 
Then, wise man, let your thoughts be turning 

To heaven's hopes and fears of hell; 
For when the house is fired and burning, 

It is too late to dig a well. 



[82] 



THEY WANT THE EARTH 



'T is but a little ball of mud 
With a streak of water round; 

Yet kings for it will shed their blood, 
As for a treasure found. 

They cannot, will not leave the thing, 
So poor are they, so mean; 

And men will fawn on such a king! 
Oh, shame upon the scene! 



[83] 



THE BEASTS THAT DON'T EAT GRASS 



Unschooled in music, poetry, and art, 

Man is a beast, a hornless, tailless beast; 
He doesn't eat the grass; for this at least 

The other beasts may well be glad at heart. 



[84] 



WHY MEN BEG 



Is there a man of spirit who would beg 

In broken words that stumble with his sobbing, 

Harsh sobs of him who fears a surly "no!" 
And all to ease his belly's empty throbbing? 

None but the man who sees his wretched wife 
Sad always, sees her worn and ragged skirts, 

Sees sad-faced babies tugging at their folds 
With screams that tell how fiercely hunger 
hurts. 



[85] 



THE WISE MISOGYNIST 



The wise misogynist, poor soul, 

To self -deceit is given; 
For heaven rewards his self-control, 

And women swarm in heaven. 



[86] 



NECTAR AND POISON 



All nectar and all poison lives 
In woman's changing states; 

For she is nectar when she loves, 
And poison when she hates. 



[87] 



THE TWO THINGS THAT MATTER 



Why all this talk and foolish chatter? 
There are just two things that really matter: 
A buxom, young, and frisky wife; 
Or else a lonely forest-life. 



[88] 



THE ONE THING NEEDFUL 



Why should I study scripture, sacred lore, 
Or any good, big book? Why get a store 

Of pious actions, anxiously performed — 
And win a humble tent in heaven, no more? 

The knowledge of myself is all I need 
To give me lasting joy, to burn the seed 

Of the interminable pain of life — 
Let pious peddlars show their wares and plead. 



[89] 



UNINTELLIGIBLE VIRTUE 



Are palace-joys so incomplete? 

Is song a despicable pleasure? 
And is there anything so sweet 

As clasping her you love and treasure? 

Yet pious men account these things 
As vain as flickering candle-light 

'Neath dancing moths on troubled wings; 
And to the woods they take their flight. 



[90] 



THE LINES OF FATE 



If thorn-plants in the desert leafless be, 

The spring is not to blame. 
If owls in broadest daylight cannot see, 

The sun should feel no shame. 
If in the plover's bill no raindrops fall, 

'T were wrong to blame the cloud. 
The lines that fate has written once for all, 

Are never disallowed. 



[91] 



POVERTY 



The moon by night, the sun by day 
Continue in their heavenly way; 
One rag they have, one ragged cloud 
To serve them both as robe and shroud. 
Poor things! 



[92] 



HOW HAED FATE GRIPS 



The snake and elephant are caged; 

The moon and sun must meet eclipse; 
The prudent are in strife engaged 

"With poverty. How hard fate grips! 



[93] 



WHEN MY LOVE DRAWS NIGH 



"When my love draws nigh, 
When his voice I hear, 

Why am I all eye? 
Why am I all ear? 



[94] 



THE HERMIT 



I seem to see a hermit good: 

He has no pride, he begs his food; 

From man-made laws his acts are free; 

He seeks no man's society; 

He has no care for common ways 

Of giving, getting all his days; 

He stitches up his garment ragged 

With wayside tatters, torn and jagged; 

No false conceit his fancy haunts — 

Eternal peace is all he wants. 



[95] 



WHY GO TO COURT? 



I am not fashion's changing sport, 
I never acted, sang, nor hated; 

What figure should I cut at court? 
I am no lady languid-gaited. 



[96] 



IMPOSSIBLE ! 



The consecrated saints of eld 

Who lived on water, leaves, and air, 

Went mad with love when they beheld 
A face that showed how maids are fair. 

And if the common men who eat 

Their rice and milk and curds and ghee, 

Should curb the wish for things so sweet, 
The mountains would fly oversea. 



[97] 



HINDRANCES 



'T would not be hard, through life's gray sea 

To find the track; 
But fawn-eyed women hinder me, 

And hold me back. 



[98] 



DIVINE VISION 



My love is in a distant land, 
And yet I see her where I stand. 
The gods have vision less divine, 
Because the eye of love is mine. 



[99] 



tp 



WHY MY POEMS DEED 



The critics all were jealous, 
The patrons full of pride, 

The public had no judgment; 
And so my poems died. 



[100] 



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